Wednesday, June 06, 2012

Let's Be Clear On Marriage

There is a false sense that the general public has changed their mind about marriage.

There is also an attempt to convince the American public that the Bible some how affirms same-sex marriage, rather than condemning the behavior of same sex relations.

Loud and misleading voices, such as President Obama and other high profile folks who seek to "remake" America--- certainly the press, are hailing the coming of the age of secular relativism in America, including the near universal acceptance of redefining marriage.

This is a lie.

Washington State Representative Jamie Pederson, himself a homosexual activist, referred to those who believe that marriage is only between one man and one woman as "a dwindling minority."

A number of polls support that.

However, the vote of the people does not. Everywhere the people have been allowed to vote, they have affirmed marriage as between one man and one woman.

I wrote about that disconnect a few weeks ago. If you didn't read it, please do.

Those who seek to redefine and destroy the sanctity of marriage, love to quote the President and the polls, but are willing to do most anything to avoid an actual vote of the people on the issue.

R-74 will, without doubt, be on the ballot this fall. Thank you to Friends of Faith and Freedom for collecting just over 69,000 of the 200,000+ total signatures in the united effort to put it on the ballot.

R-74 has caused the law to redefine marriage, passed by the legislature last session, to be suspended pending the signature gathering.

It will now be suspended until the vote in November.

However, should we prevail in the defense of marriage--and I believe we will, Senator Ed Murray, Rep. Jamie Pederson or others who seek to redefine marriage have the option to start the process again as early as January, 2013, by introducing a new bill to redefine marriage.

R-74 has to succeed, however, we need to be very clear that this is only a fix for the moment. We must develop a longer view on protecting marriage.

I-1192 is still gathering signatures. We are urging everyone to ignore those who have dismissed or even actively worked to discourage people of faith from signing the Initiative.

We have tried to lead by example, not taking leadership in either measure, while fully supporting both.

It has been said 2 measures on the ballot will confuse the voters. That is not true. People of faith and conservatives are smarter than some think. They are fully capable of "getting" 2 measures that support marriage.

Initiative 1192 has been filed for the purpose of reclaiming the definition of marriage as "One man-One Woman = Marriage".

Here's why we must do all we can to also put the Initiative on the ballot in November.

Initiative I-1192 is an affirmative statement – your chance to say YES to marriage as being between one man and one woman;

Initiative I-1192 reverses the same-sex marriage law that was recently passed by the Legislature, as it would prohibit marriages by persons other than one man and one woman;

Initiative I-1192 is an initiative that makes new law – it clarifies the definition of marriage as being between one man and one woman;

Initiative I-1192 requires about 300,000 signatures to get on the ballot, given the disqualification rate for unqualified signatures.

If passed, it would take a 2/3 super majority in the legislature to overturn for the first 2 years. Murray and Pederson do not have a super majority.

A pdf file of the petition is available on the faithandfreedom.us site, you may send it to a printer with instructions for printing, which are included. You may also contact me at gary.randall@faithandfreedom.us and we will have one of our area coordinators help you.

All signatures must be in the Secretary of State's office by July 6. Please gather signatures until the first of July, then be sure they are sent in to the sponsor of the Initiative.

Thank you for your support of marriage.

I am personally honored to be standing with you in this historic moment.